Retail?
The article may have bad data or a weird definition of manufacturing because the BEA (the folks that make the GDP) say that "Good Production" is 22%:
We need investing and government almost as much as we need goods producers, but we need services more. Like, we buy one car so we can drive to a lot of stores, we buy one TV so we can watch a lot of programs, etc. Whether we say we like it or not, this is what we do.
Gubmint 17%!
Wow, gubmint “produces” 17% of the wealth in the US. So exactly what of value does it make, and where do I go to get my “fair share”?